NZ Trip - Day 11 - Queenstown River adventures

Queenstown is known as the adventure capital of the world, and has so many things on offer, from sky jumping to paragliding, bungy jumping to catapulting between mountains, speed boating to ATV rides and mountain biking, the list goes on.. 

With 3 days in Queenstown, we had planned for doing the sky dive and paragliding on day 1 as its highly weather-dependent and we wanted a buffer of an extra day or two in case nature turned against us. Which was well and good, as we got the disheartening cancellation messages 30 mins before our planned skydive in the morning, with both skydive and paragliding cancelled due to bad weather. We tried rescheduling the skydive a couple of hours later but the weather didnt clear up. We were groggy to say the least as we didn't want to get up from the bed in the cool weather in the first place! Anyway we spent the next couple of hours catching up on some much needed sleep and calling up tour operators to reschedule our itineraries. We ended up essentially swapping today's original programme with the one a couple of days later, planning instead to do the river adventures today.

NZ is full of rivers and lakes so there are no shortage of activities surrounding them, including nature walks, biking trails, hiking, crusing etc. We decided for the jet boat ride in the morning in the Shotover river and the zipline over Kawarau River in the afternoon. 

Shotover Jet base was a short 30 min ride from Queenstown, back up the way we entered the city. We could see the most covered mountains on the way up. The Jet boat ride was fast and furious, with the 360 degree turns making a big splash, figuritively and literally! The downstream ride was more spectacular than the upstream part, but the proximity of the rocks and bumping over a few on the way made the ride spectacular. Even my daughter,  who was skeptical at first, enjoyed the adventure, although my son complained of some ear pain later on due to the pressure changes. All of us thoroughly enjoyed the adrenaline rush though!

After a quick stop over at the hotel to have a cuppa, we were on the road again for another 45 min drive to Kawarau bridge. Thankfully, we managed to get the last slot for the day for the zipride, which the family enjoyed. It was longer than the Redwoods ' one, but having had that experience, the novelty had worn off, although left dangling for a good minute or two over the river way down below was fun.

The kids had had enough for the day and wanted to just chill in the hotel, so my wife and myself decided to have a nice stroll along the beach. It was a nice warm evening, and we discovered people enjoying themselves with their families at the playground, relaxing by the beach, doing activities like pedal boating in the lake or just sitting on the grass bank and admiring the nature around them. We found people of all walks of life, of all ages, just relaxing on a Friday evening. 

I ordered a cotton candy to eat along the way but was stunned to get the biggest cotton candy I have ever had in my life, around 1m tall! We went around to find a slightly hidden botanical garden, laced with sculptures, fountains, water lillies and the biggest roses we have seen, in a myriad of colours and a range of scents to blow the mind away. We ended up spending more than 3 hours in the evening walk, covering the garden, beach front and shops in the central area. Things certainly were more expensive here in NZ, but with cosy weather, quintessential beauty all around, fun and relaxing activities to do alone or with family, we were wondering what in the world people from Queenstown wanted to achieve by travelling out of the city! 

The kids were craving for a South Indian dinner, so we went to the only one out of 4 Indian restaurants that had idlis and dosas. At NZD 20 for a plain dosa, I almost had a heart attack, but not as if we had much choice. But the quality was the worst of our trip so far, reinforcing my belief that we should never order south Indian fare from a north Indian restaurant and leaving me with a bitter taste at the end of what was another lovely day otherwise. 

Today was a day to get some adrenaline out and relax. We hit the bed early around 10pm as we have the longest drive tomorrow to Milford Sound, the famed natural wonderland nestled in the heart of the Fjordland. I am definitely looking forward to the drive through Milford Road despite there being some roadworks on the narrow road. 

NZ Trip - Day 10 - Haast Pass/ Queenstown

Today is yet another travel day where we will be going through arguably the third most beautiful drive in NZ, through the Haast Pass on the western coast. There is a road closure on the main highway with no alternative, so we had to plan around this by starting early. However, the inertia of rest exacerbated by the morning chill ensured everyone took their own sweet time getting ready. We were in a rush against the clock to pass through before the road closures begin at noon for road repair works. Queenstown is 4 hours away as per Google maps, but I suspect it would take a lot longer than that. 

We started just in time, and were rushing through the initial leg of the journey. This was one of the more relaxing drives through the rainforests of West coast, covered with trees on both sides, giving you a sense of serenity. We saw hundreds of road kills of common brush tail possum, which are native to Australia but invasive in NZ, which saddened me quite a bit with an ire towards reckless drivers who caused them. In one stretch, we could see one dead possum for each 100 meters or so. Nature would be beautiful only as long as we take care of it. 

The landscape itself was very different and puts the mind at ease, even when going at 120. We stopped at a roadside food truck at Byron Bay for breakfast of coffee and crepes, while admiring the deep blue waters. Onward, we came to the roadworks spot about 30 mins prior to closure, but work was still going on, using a helicopter to ferry loose rocks from the mountains. Helicopters seem to be highly utilitarian in this place!

After a long drive and numerous one way bridges that NZ is famous for, I was wondering if NZ has deliberately kept the one way bridges only for the historical value or to keep the drivers alert every now and then. Irrespective of the purpose, most of the priority was in the way I was travelling, which was nice. After a few photo stops to take in the irresistable natural beauty, we did a bit of detour near Haast Pass to get to the tip of Haast Beach, as it looked wonderful when we got a glimpse of it over a small one-way bridge. Haast Beach had a lovely little lagoon with different shades of blue and turquoise filling the horizon, along with the natural Paua stones that are abundant here. But this was way more than a small detour has we had to travel some 20km to reach the beach and the kids were getting restless, so I had to rush on the way back to make up for lost time.

An hour further into the drive,  we were treated to amazing views of the twin lakes, Lake Wanaka and Lake Hawea within a couple of km of each other.  Each were beautiful in their own way. While both boasted turquoise and blue waters of the Glacier melt, I loved the contrasting landscape surrounding Lake Hawea more. Camera doesn't do justice to the sheer awesomeness amd beauty of the place. 

Near Lake Wanaka was a couple of attractions that we wanted to visit - Puzzling World and National Transport Museum. Puzzling World blew our mind with an array of puzzles that keep you occupied for hours, even having puzzles at each table that you can do while munching on your food! We had only a couple of hours until closing, so we had to rush through the illusion rooms. The outdoor maze was just amazing, that kept us intrigued..It was also unlike other mazes are part of the maze was hidden underneath the overhead bridges which kept us blinded as to the real solution and made us wander back and forth in search of a solution. 

Only my daughter managed to crack it, while the rest of us gave up at some point due to the sapping heat dehydrating us. It is highly recommended to carry a bottle of water while doing this course. My son and myself managed to reach the four towers, but had a tough time even locating the emergency exit afterwards! As we left Puzzling World taking a few illusionary snaps as memoirs, the only regret is that we didn't get to spend more time here,  it can easily keep you occupied for the full day! 

The drive into Queenstown through the mountains was somewhat complicated by Google maps' triggered detour, but the steep S curves, braking hard at 40kmph to make the turns gave me a sense of happiness as it felt like a real mountain drive, rather than crusing at 100kmph like on the highway. Usually such detours makes me wonder why Maps doesn't have a "stick to highway" route recommendation, but definitely not in NZ as such detours invariably give us more than what we were after!

Queenstown itself was a beautiful town nestled on one side of the S-shaped Lake Wakatipu with crystal clear waters despite being extensively used for lake cruises, speed boating etc. It definitely was more developed and beautiful than the other towns, with the residential apartments nestled in the mountains and hotels lining up the beach front. We checked into Crowne Plaza overlooking the pier, but finding a parking slot along the beach front was a challenge! Queenstown is also a lot cooler than the other towns, so once we huddled in the warmth of the hotel room, we didnt want to get out again..

After a lot of western fare recently, we decided to stick to Indian food for dinner. We found multiple Indian restaurants close by for a takeaway dinner, but the quality of food was probably the worst in NZ so far, while being the priciest. Quantity was similarly large as the other towns, so no grouses on that aspect. Beggers cannot be choosers though!

Today was an awesome drive that I would rate as the best drive so far in NZ, better than Arthur's Pass, and Puzzling World was definitely a hidden gem! 

NZ Trip - Day 9 - Glacier Region

Today is a fairly relaxed day, getting up late for a change, which means 6.15am as the sun is too bright! The kids finally found some time to enjoy the Top10 resort playground at the resort before starting for a 2.5 hour trip to Glacier Region. After hunting a bit for a cafe to have our morning coffee fix, we stopped at a nice cafe at Kumara Junction. We gorged on a nice assortment of breakfast options, including pancakes with cream and local honey that was very thin but had an exquisite taste. We also found some Pounamu souvenirs for a much reasonable price compared to Te Papa museum. Also realised that we may have stumbled upon zillions more on the beach yesterday, which we could have picked up for free! 

One of the things we noticed was the casual culture of small towns like these, where customers drop by to pick up a coffee but end up chit chatting for 30 mins with the staff. And they always part ways with a positive message or wish. What is even more heartwarming is that a lot of the toilets have positive messages framed on them for people to notice and imbibe. No wonder the people are so nice here. What a fascinating place! 

Anyway, off we went to the next stop - Glacier Region - where the plan was to take the helicopter ride to the top of the Glacier for some snowy fun. All along the way I had to temper my son's enthusiasm about seeing snow with vague answers as I did not want to disappoint him if the weather turns sour later on. It was a good 2 hour ride, but we did stop a few times along the way to take in some nice viewpoints and capture some pictures. Some stretches were so straight and empty that I couldn't help but speed along a jolly 120-130 kmph. On one such stretch, I was about to overtake a slower vehicle by crossing to the oncoming lane when I aborted it at the last minute by slamming the breaks as I was running out of road. Just then, we noticed a lone police man with a speed gun pointed right at me. I have seen a net total of 4 police men in the last 8 days here, and I sure hope my NZ souvenirs don't include a speeding ticket! 

Just when I thought the west coast drive hugging the Tasman Sea on one side and the southern alps on the other horizon was not as good as the eastern coast ride, I went through a series of hilly S-Curves for 12km and was once again hooked on the futility of underestimating NZ natural beauty. I was indeed distracted at times and was thankful for the lane crossing alarm in my vehicle. 

Once we reached Franz Joseph glacier region, we did a quick check in for our flight and soaked in the atmosphere of the small town, whose only business seemed to be organising scenic flights and tours for tourists. 

The glacier flight was an amazing experience and the fastest 40 mins or our lives, which felt like 10. Being the first time for all of us aboard a helicopter, it was a cool experience with a steep angle of attack. The pilot was giving us a lot of useful info about the landscape, glaciers themselves and some interesting tidbits like 600cm of annual rainfall in the glacier region requiring several bunds to keep the river from overflowing! 

We did a good 20 min flight covering all the major glaciers, including Tasman glacier, and sighting Lake Pukaki and Tasman Sea, before heading to a flat region on top of the Fox Glacier for the highlight of our trip - the snow landing!

I was as excited as the kids on seeing snow that I struggled with my duty as a father to keep clicking pictures and videos, while throwing snow balls and playing with snow myself! While it was more of icy crystals due to fresh snow not having fallen for a few days, it was great fun nevertheless for the 10 mins we were up there! The moment that the kida were craving for, didn't disappoint, and we were talking about it for a long time afterwards.

We stopped for lunch at a restaurant nearby, and again we had a great spread of vegetarian options to choose from, and the quantity was so overwhelming that we had to take away some of it. The Panini loaded with spinach, melted cheese and cream was especially awesome. I have never had so much spinach in my life and felt so good about it!

Once we had our stomachs full, we started on a quick 30 min drive to Fox Glacier to reach our accommodation before the reception closes. We were shocked when it said outside temperature was 29 degrees in the glacier town! The Top10 resort here was a lot more compact than the other two, with limited facilities. We felt the warmest we had during this trip and quickly crashed onto our beds for some rest before dinner. As my brain was struggling to process why the glacier region is the hottest, the sunset couldn't come sooner here! There were some glowworms in the bushwalks around here too that are visible in the night time.

Today was an awesome first experience on-board a helicopter, on a glacier, with snow for the children that we will never forget!

NZ Trip - Day 8 - Arthur's Pass/ Greymouth

Today started off with an excited vibe as we were looking forward to a Dolphin encounter in their natural environment as well as what was supposedly the best drive in New Zealand through Arthur's Pass. 

There was a bit of trepidation due to the inclement weather the night before, but the day dawned drizzly that quickly became bright and sunny, increasing our hopes. We reached the Dolphin Encounter checkin with plenty of time to spare and had a nice breakfast of coffee and the biggest crossaint I have ever seen! The staff told us the sea conditions were very rough, but still within limits to operate, so we idled our time getting a couple of souvenirs and watching the swimmers get dressed for their date with dolphins. My children were disappointed not being able to swim themselves, mainly because we were scared as parents and felt they were not ready for open ocean swimming. The briefing and short video about sea life around Kaikoura only heightened the excitement levels. 

We were soon loaded into a fully packed couple of buses for the short trip to the boat quay. Just when we caught sight of the shore, we were stunned with the news that the sea had turned worse and that the tour will be cancelled. As the locals say, nothing much we can do against Mother Nature aye? 

With the day starting off on the wrong foot, we started off on the long drive from east to West coast. The mood soon became much better thanks to the sheer awesomeness of the Pacific Coastal drive. We just couldn't enough of the majestic Pacific Ocean and had to stop along the way to admire it and touch the cold waters of the Pacific once again before embarking on our journey inland.  

The initial foray was largely through grasslands with mountains on the horizon, but after overwhelming our senses over the last week in NZ, the beauty could be ignored as we drove along in silence. But there were enough to keep us interested like the unique fencing based on cuboid shaped landscaping and quaint little post boxes lining up houses and farms, few and far between. 

As we entered the Southern Alps, the mood changed once again as we embarked on the most beautiful drive we have had ever! The stunning views of the winding mountain roads, the raw nature of hill slopes being eroded by ice as it thawed, the wide river bank that hinted at a huge flow of water during spring, the deep blue waters of the glacial lake, the trek of Castle Hill with Maori cultural significance, the vintage Alpine train station at Arthur's Pass, the Arthur's Pass National Park overlooking snow capped mountains even during summer, the list goes on and on.  The paucity of things that do not take your breath away here is mind-boggling! Given to the true Singaporean nature of complaining, I would say only the last part of the drive out of the mountains toward Kumara Junction and Greymouth was a bit underwhelming, possibly because of the sensory overload earlier on.

On arrival in Greymouth, which is a major train station on the west coast, we had a quick dinner takeaway from a nearby Indian restaurant. Indian restaurants are everywhere in NZ and are typically open until 9pm or so in all places we have been to so far, contrary to the initial scare about scarcity of food here after 3-4pm. No regrets packing a few instant food items including maggi though, which tastes like heaven in this cold weather!  

We were again put up at Top 10 resort at Greymouth, which was a great place to stay with family. We had booked a self contained unit that had everything we need. The facilities included a mini golf and playground with ziplines, trampoline and jumping pillow, with direct access to the Tasman Sea, where we caught a beautiful sunset. Our only regret was that we were staying here only one night and not doing justice to this place! 

What a day it was, with memories to last a lifetime! If wealth was measured in moments that take our breath away, I would be a millionaire! 

NZ Trip - Day 7 - Picton/ Kaikoura

Today is another travel day, but an exciting one, doing a Ferry inter-island crossing. Given the early morning departure, we said our good byes to my friend and came to the ferry terminal in good time. There are a couple of ferries crossing the islands but I booked Bluebridge as I could get a private cabin for my family to relax and shower while we crossed through the Cook Strait. It was a bit of a wait in the car, but we boarded the ferry to be awed by the amount of bug trailer trucks already locked snd loaded inside. It was way bigger than what i thought it would be. While the facilities were just adequate, the crossing itself was a lovely experience. 

We left the Pacific Coast and travelled through clear and calm waters for the first half of the journey. In the second half, the stunning beauty of Marlborough Sound captivated us all through.  Every hill in the mountain range had a different look and feel and various shades of colours. I almost hate my camera for not capturing the true beauty of the nature out here. The viewing deck became increasingly crowded as we made our way towards Picton in South Island, twisting and turning in the gaps between the mountain ranges. 

As a Google contributor, it had prompted me for some reviews based on my travel, which I had provided the day before. It was a pleasant surprise to see that all the review comments had got replies from the service providers, irrespective of whether it was a big or small firm and whether thr reviews were positive or negative feedback. This is again something that I feel differentiates NZ from the rest of the world, with excellent customer service standards!

Alighting at Picton, we found an Indian restaurant nearby where we had a nice lunch, seeing the rains lash out and cover the opposite mountains in fog. As the rain relented, we started on our drive to Kaikoura through beautiful vineyards. At Bleinheim, I was briefly lost and while I was figuring out through google maps,  I was almost T-boned by a lorry at a major roundabout. I was thinking SH1 had priority all the way through, but apparantly not!

For sometime afterwards, it was a homogenous landscape, so it was a bit boring after a while. However, NZ doesn't disappoint for long. 

I fell in love with the Pacific Ocean at first sight, coming down the mountains, that I had to make a hard stop and take a picture! The drive along the Pacific Coast, with mountains draped on one side and the biggest ocean on the other, was mesmerising to say the least. At one point I stopped 3 times within 5 minutes to take pictures that annoyed my sleeping daughter no end! 

The third of those stops was to take a picture against a rocky shore backdrop, but I stumbled upon hundreds of seals resting and playing on or near the rocks, along with a colony of ever-present seagulls! I was so excited that I had to get my family to come down and enjoy the sight. A couple of km away, we stopped at a place where we could trek down some loose rocks to touch the Pacific Ocean. We realised the rocky shore was also home to a couple of seal carcasses as well, but nothing is going to stop our pleasure today as we touched the cold Pacific waters on a drizzly summer afternoon! 

Finally we reached Kaikoura and had a smooth checkin to the Top10 resort, where the motel unit were surprisingly clean and spacious, stocked with almost everything we need. We had a bit of bad news as the weather has turned stormy, so the dolphin tour planned for tomorrow is at risk. This made us want to soak in as much of Kaikoura as possible tonight, but we could hardly get out of the accommodation due to the heavy rain and winds.